UAH 214,000 Awarded to Social Projects from Across Ukraine Following a Pitching Event
Events
On February 26 in Kyiv, My City, together with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), organized a pitching event for social projects that brought together civic initiatives from across Ukraine.
During the event, teams presented their projects beyond the boundaries of their own communities, where initiatives often remain confined and rarely have the opportunity to move beyond their immediate experience, networks, and local environments.
The pitching event gave them the opportunity to showcase their work and present their projects to invited guests and partners, including MHP Hromadi, LUN, the Foundation of Ukrainian NGOs, 31 Group, and FRACTAL.
The main goal was to create conditions for cooperation and networking between initiatives and partners — connections that can strengthen projects by attracting co-funding, expertise, and long-term partnerships that may become the foundation for development and scaling.
Project Themes
This time, the projects were grouped into three thematic categories.
Inclusion and Accessibility
The following organizations presented their initiatives:
- Koropshchyna — A Shared Home, with a project aimed at creating a safe and inclusive environment in the Korop community in the Chernihiv region.
- Interregional Institute for Community Development, with an initiative to provide modern diagnostic equipment for children with visual impairments at the Konotop Special School in the Sumy region.
- Kvitna Charity Foundation, which presented a program offering ongoing free screenings of breast and pelvic organs for women in Kyiv.
Spaces for Development and Recovery
This block included three projects:
- A Veteran Development Center in Drohobych, presented by the NGO Be the Change in the Lviv region.
- The “Kodra Park” recreational space, presented by the Makariv Settlement Council in the Kyiv region.
- An environmental initiative for plastic collection, presented by the NGO Youth Group from the Krasnolutsk community in the Poltava region.
Animal Welfare
The following initiatives were presented in this category:
- The NGO Happy Animal, with a project to equip a shelter for stray animals in the Nizhyn community in the Chernihiv region.
- Help Animals UA and Gostomel Shelter, which are building the “Mriya” shelter for evacuated animals near the Makariv community in the Kyiv region.
Results
Following the pitching event, eight initiatives received financial support totaling UAH 214,000.
Additionally, GladPet and Hill’s Pet Nutrition will support two animal welfare projects with pet food, enabling the teams to begin implementing their initiatives in the near future. However, the value of the event goes far beyond the financial results.
“A pitching event is the moment when the dry phrase ‘social project’ turns into real people and real stories. Teams present not abstract ideas, but clear plans backed by work that has already been done. At the same time, businesses and donors can clearly see where their funds will go and what results they can expect.
Its value is not only in the amount of additional funding raised. After the pitching event, conversations continue, new meetings are arranged, and ideas for joint programs emerge. It’s about trust built through face-to-face dialogue — and partnerships that are born not in offices, but in conversation,” says Viktoriia Zatsnova, Head of My City.
Perhaps most importantly, events like this help build trust. At a time when resources are limited and requests for support are many, trust becomes the foundation of meaningful partnerships. This event was about a culture of collaboration — when communities, initiatives, organizations, and businesses do not exist separately, but become co-creators of change.
The pitching event was organized in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM Ukraine) and funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW).